Harry Simon (born 21 October 1971) is a Namibian former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight title from 1998 to 2001, and the WBO middleweight title in 2002.
In 2002, Simon was involved in a serious car crash. He was found guilty of "culpable homicide" and sentenced to jail in 2007. Simon was released in 2009. He lost his world middleweight title owing to injuries sustained from the car accident, being stripped of the belt for failure to defend it.
In 2013 Simon won the vacant IBF International Light Heavyweight title against Geard Ajetović, and defended it against him again in 2014.
He retired undefeated with a record of 31–0–0, with 23 wins by way of knockout.
Amateur highlights As an amateur Simon represented Namibia as a welterweight at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and had an overall amateur record of 121–9. His result was: Lost to Aníbal Acevedo (Puerto Rico) 11–13
Professional career Simon turned pro in 1994 and won the WBO junior middleweight title in 1998 by defeating Winky Wright by controversial decision. The bout had initially been ruled a draw, but then a "scoring error" favoring Simon was discovered. He defended the title four times against Kevin Lueshing, Enrique Areco, Rodney Jones and Wayne Alexander. He later captured the WBO middleweight title against Sweden's Armand Krajnc in a unanimous 12-round decision. In 2002, Simon was involved in a serious car accident, sustaining injuries that prevented his defending his title; because of this he was stripped of the belt.
Simon returned to boxing in March 2007, winning an eight round decision over Stephen Nzuemb, in Namibia. He won a fight against Tanzanian Rashid Mutumla by knockout on 2 December 2010. Following his release from jail in 2009, Simon launched a comeback, recording several wins over journeyman opposition.
On 24 November 2018 Simon fought together with his son, Harry Simon Jr. They both won their fights, making it a first in Namibia for father and son to appear together, and to both win.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes31Win31–0Kaminjah RamadhanTKO2 (8)Nov 24, 201830Win30–0Japhet KasebaTKO2 (8)Mar 26, 201629Win29–0Geard AjetovićUD12Sep 28, 201328Win28–0Zoltan Kiss, Jr.TKO2 (8) Jun 29, 201327Win27–0Ruben GroenewaldTKO1 (12) Jun 23, 201226Win26–0Rashid MatumlaKO1 (10) Dec 4, 201025Win25–0Daniel WanyonyiTKO5 (6)Feb 20, 201024Win24–0Stephen NzuembaUD12Mar 3, 200723Win23–0Armand KrajncUD12Apr 6, 200222Win22–0Hacine CherifiUD12Jul 21, 200121Win21–0Wayne AlexanderTKO5 (12) Feb 10, 200120Win20–0Rodney JonesMD12Sep 23, 200019Win19–0Enrique ArecoTKO10 (12)Feb 19, 200018Win18–0Kevin LueshingTKO3 (12) May 1, 199917Win17–0Winky WrightMD12Aug 22, 199816Win16–0Kasi KaihauKO4 (10) Dec 22, 199715Win15–0George RichardsKO5 (8) Jul 19, 199714Win14–0Nick OdoreKO5 (6) May 3, 199713Win13–0John BoscoKO2 (8) Feb 8, 199712Win12–0Anthony IvoryPTS6Aug 31, 199611Win11–0Del BryanTKO6 (10)Jul 6, 199610Win10–0Paul WesleyRTD4 (8) Apr 13, 19969Win9–0José María CabralKO6 (10)Sep 23, 19958Win8–0Danny ChavezPTS10Jul 8, 19957Win7–0Ernest GoliathTKO1 (8)May 12, 19956Win6–0Enuel MarshileTKO5 (8)Mar 15, 19955Win5–0Paul NhlumayoTKO2 (6)Dec 21, 19944Win4–0Thandekile BoyanaTKO4Nov 20, 19943Win3–0Petros TwalaTKO2 (4)Mar 26, 19942Win2–0Thabiso DlaminiKO1 (4)Mar 5, 19941Win1–0Leon Van RensburgTKO1 (4)Jan 26, 1994
Outside the ring Simon was involved in two serious car accidents resulting in fatalities. In the first accident in 2001, two people died outside Swakopmund in a hit-and-run accident. Simon's car's estimated speed was . Some controversy developed around this accident, as blood samples disappeared, and originally Simon was reported to be driving. His driver later admitted to have steered the vehicle and was sentenced to 2 years in jail.
The second accident, in late 2002, saw Simon seriously injured and eventually sent to jail. Three Belgian tourists - two adults and a baby - died in the collision with Simon's Mercedes-Benz at Langstrand in November 2002. On 5 August 2005, Simon was given a two-year jail sentence, after he was found guilty of culpable homicide stemming from the November 2002 car accident, which resulted in the deaths of the three people.
On 9 July 2007, Simon began serving his two-year prison sentence for culpable homicide after losing the appeal of his 2005 conviction. Simon did not call any witnesses or testify in his own behalf during the appeal proceedings, and his conviction and sentence were not overturned. He was released in 2009. In 2020 he published a book, "Lifestyle and Treatments in Prison", detailing his experiences in jail.
See also List of world light-middleweight boxing champions List of world middleweight boxing champions List of undefeated world boxing champions
References
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